Abstract
BackgroundMindfulness-based approaches for adults are effective at enhancing mental health, but few controlled trials have evaluated their effectiveness or cost-effectiveness for young people. The primary aim of this trial is to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a mindfulness training (MT) programme to enhance mental health, wellbeing and social-emotional behavioural functioning in adolescence.Methods/designTo address this aim, the design will be a superiority, cluster randomised controlled, parallel-group trial in which schools offering social and emotional provision in line with good practice (Formby et al., Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) Education: A mapping study of the prevalent models of delivery and their effectiveness, 2010; OFSTED, Not Yet Good Enough: Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education in schools, 2013) will be randomised to either continue this provision (control) or include MT in this provision (intervention). The study will recruit and randomise 76 schools (clusters) and 5700 school students aged 12 to 14 years, followed up for 2 years.DiscussionThe study will contribute to establishing if MT is an effective and cost-effective approach to promoting mental health in adolescence.Trials registrationInternational Standard Randomised Controlled Trials, identifier: ISRCTN86619085. Registered on 3 June 2016.
Highlights
Mindfulness-based approaches for adults are effective at enhancing mental health, but few controlled trials have evaluated their effectiveness or cost-effectiveness for young people
The study will contribute to establishing if mindfulness training (MT) is an effective and cost-effective approach to promoting mental health in adolescence
Schools must be willing to commit to the My Resilience in Adolescence (MYRIAD) study, including the teacher training required in schools randomised to MT and teacher and pupil assessments and follow-ups
Summary
Mindfulness-based approaches for adults are effective at enhancing mental health, but few controlled trials have evaluated their effectiveness or cost-effectiveness for young people. Onset in childhood or adolescence is associated with greater impairments in social and occupational functioning and reduced quality of life, with adolescent depression associated with poor academic performance, family and social difficulties, physical ill-health, suicide attempts and completed suicide [8,9,10,11]. Such increased severity of early onset depression is reflected in the fact that within child and adolescent samples, depression is often comorbid with other disorders; more than a third of these young people have a disruptive behavioural disorder, anxiety disorder or both [12, 13]. Vital that effective interventions are developed to tackle these vulnerability processes and to target those interventions during this critical window of adolescence
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